Canucks sign second-round pick

The Sports Xchange

Aug. 22, 2012 4:57 AM ET

--F Alexandre Mallet, the Amqui, Quebec, native selected in the second round (57th overall) of this year's NHL entry draft, was signed. Mallet, 20, recorded 81 points (34-47-81) and added 132 penalty minutes in 68 games with Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season. He led the Oceanic in goals and penalty minutes. He added 25 points (10-15-25) in 21 playoff games as Oceanic reached the Quebec league final after finishing seventh in the regular season.

--RW Dale Weise, a fourth-line winger, avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, one-way contract worth $615,000. He produced four goals and four assists in 68 games with Vancouver last season after being picked up on waivers from the New York Rangers.

--The Canucks added veteran C Jason Arnott to their list of prospective middlemen. Arnott, 37, an unrestricted free agent who played for the St. Louis Blues last season, held some preliminary discussions with Vancouver, said his brother Wade, who also acts as his agent.

--Vancouver continued to woo RW Shane Doan as the Coyotes captain waited to see how the Phoenix ownership situation would unfold. According to reports, Doan, a highly sought unrestricted free agent, dined with Canucks management in a Vancouver restaurant in late July.

--C/LW Manny Malhotra signed on as a participant in Vancouver's Pride parade in early August. The Canucks winger lent his support a You Can Play, a group founded by Philadelphia Flyers scout Patrick Burke, who is the brother of the late Brendan Burke and the son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke. "It's paramount that equality in sport, and beyond, becomes the norm. Everybody has the right to play the game they love," said Malhotra in a news release put out by the Canucks. Brendan Burke, who was openly gay, was killed in a motor-vehicle accident.

--As of early August, the Canucks ranked third in payroll with $67 million committed for the 2012-13 season. Only Boston ($69.9 million) and Minnesota ($68.8 million) had given out more in total contract value. Vancouver had only about $2 million in salary-cap space, which raised serious questions about the team's ability to sign free agents.

QUOTE TO NOTE "He brings exactly what the team needs, and I sense there's a mutual interest there, too." -- Agent Wade Arnott, in an interview with the Vancouver Province on his brother Jason's chances of playing for the Canucks.